Barrage

by Lea Hart

  BARRAGE

  Book Five

  Lea Hart

  Copyright © 2017 by Lea Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Lea Hart

  Visit my website at www.leahartauthor.com

  DEDICATION

  For My Daughters, My Heartbeat

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tuesday, September 5th

  Lucky looked over her shoulder and prayed that Sam wouldn’t catch sight of her because the last thing she needed was for him to come over and start a conversation. She’d successfully avoided him for months and wanted nothing less than for it to continue.

  Taking one final glance, she confirmed he was fully engaged in his conversation, so she scrunched down in her high-back chair. The large lobby of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel wasn’t where she expected to see the fed and why he was here with a fellow agent was anyone’s guess.

  And, yeah, she’d figured his companion was exactly that because they both wore similar expressions, suits, and shoes. Also, the unmistakable stick up their asses left no doubt that Chicago’s branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was in the house.

  Not that she was thinking about Sam Barton’s ass.

  Except that he was one.

  And had a fine one.

  Moving her glasses to the top of her head, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and knew the enmity she harbored for Sam was the result of how foolish she felt for falling for his pretty face.

  When they’d met a year ago on an SAI op that involved the local Italian mob, she’d thought he was the most handsome man in the world and fell promptly in lust. He was six feet of gorgeous, with a face that would make angels weep at the sheer perfection of its symmetry.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have a personality to match.

  They’d worked together on and off since the initial meeting and she soon discovered he was an unmitigated pompous asshole. Not only had he been supercilious, but he’d also taken shots at her clothes and opinions. Which killed the crush and, by the time they were done working together and the bad guys from the Russian Bratva had been taken care of, she was happy to be free of his company.

  Which was a blessing she was enjoying to this day.

  Except…she could actually use his help.

  Which sucked, since there was no way she’d ever ask for his assistance with Anton Vazov. The Bratva pakhan she’d come across last spring was one of the most deplorable humans to ever walk the Earth, and she wanted to see him brought to justice. Regrettably, she hadn’t figured out a way to make it happen.

  But, Sam could, because he headed up the task force that oversaw organized crime in the city. At least she thought he could despite the fact, Vazov didn’t operated primarily in Brussels. Rolling her neck in a circle, she tried to release the tension that was accumulating and knew she’d eventually figure out a way to have him taken down.

  But today wasn’t that day, because she had a crisis at work that was going to take all her focus. Checking her watch, she hoped the second-best hacker-turned-security-expert slash ex-boyfriend showed up soon because she wanted him to join her at SAI and help her solve a hack that had proven particularly troublesome.

  Hearing her name, she looked up and saw Griffin striding toward her and, unfortunately, Sam’s head popped up as well. Their gazes clashed and then locked.

  “Shit,” she mumbled to herself as she raised her chin in acknowledgment. Seeing the intensity of his gaze made her realize he hadn’t given up yet. Which meant she was going to run the moment she was done with the meeting.

  Raising her eyes, she watched Grif approach and bless her with his signature-sexy once over. It had often dropped her panties in the past and unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work anymore, which was a shame since he was so damn attractive in a bad-boy hacker way. “Hey, Grif, pack that smile away because I don’t want you to waste your smoldering sexiness on me.”

  “Lucky, it’s never wasted.”

  He leaned down to kiss her and she decided to make the most of the situation and ensure Sam had no reason to come over. When their faces were an inch apart, she whispered, “Give me your best kiss so the two feds that are sitting on the other side of the planter take notice.”

  “Kissing you isn’t a favor, Lucky.”

  “Make it a good one.”

  He gave her one more sexy smile, then cupped the back of her head and brought their mouths together, laying a mind-numbing, body-tingling, firework-worthy kiss on her that she would remember for a long time to come.

  The moment he released her mouth, she sucked in a deep breath and then laughed. “It’s too bad we can’t get along when we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  Griffin tipped his head against hers and took her hand and squeezed. “We’re too much alike, unfortunately.”

  “That we are.” She pushed at his chest and he playfully stumbled back. No way he would’ve moved if he didn’t want to because besides being incredibly intelligent, he was also well built.

  Lucky watched him drop his bag on the table and then collapse into a chair facing her. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Do you know the expression, steam coming out of someone’s ears?”

  “Yes…”

  “It’s actually happening to one of the feds. He’s giving me a death glare and…” raising his hand, Grif waved. “I wonder if he’s going to explode.”

  “Well, that hopefully will keep him away.”

  “Are you going to explain any of this?”

  “I worked with Sam last spring…he was an ass and then did a weird turnabout and has been calling me on and off all summer.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense since he looks like he wants to kill me.”

  “Why are men so weird? One minute they’re all jabs and insults and the next it’s let’s go to dinner and hang out.”

  “As cocky as I am, I’m not comfortable speaking for all who possess a Y chromosome, but I will say, sometimes we’re idiots when faced with the thing we want most.”

  “I can’t even begin to unpack what that means, so I’m going to move on to why I asked you to meet me today.”

  “Is it another job offer?”

  “Yes, and before you give me the ten reasons why you don’t want a permanent gig, please hear me out.”

  “You know that I’m a lone wolf and like to go where the wind takes me, but since you sounded slightly desperate on the phone, I’ll listen to you before I say no.”

  “You’re a prince among men, Grif.”

  “True.” He ran his hand over his jaw and shook his head. “Why didn’t we work, Lucky?”

  Lifting an eyebrow, she waited to see if his inquiry was serious and decided it wasn’t when he broke into a chuckle. “We both know why and to rehash the past isn’t worth it.”

  “You’re right.”

  “I usually am,” she said as she sat back. “I need your help with a client who has recently been hacked because I can’t figure out where the initial breach was made. I’ve been working on it for a week, and I’m completely flummoxed.”

  Grif leaned forward and picked up his phone and held it up. “Can you repeat that, please, so I can record it for posterity?”

  She sat forward in her chair and put her mouth close to the upheld phone and spoke slowly, “Save me, Grif, be
cause you’re the only one who can.” When he smiled like a madman, she knew she had him. He wasn’t a man motivated by money or glory; he wanted to know unequivocally that he was the best in the world at what he did, and her admission just proved that.

  “Okay, Lucky, I’ll come over and save you.”

  Shaking her head, she held out her hands and waited until he took them. “Thank you. Would you like to know what we’re dealing with?”

  “Sure.”

  She let go of his hands and sat back. “I’ve got a client who has an enormously large audience that streams content directly onto their computers and a systems administrator recently discovered an anomaly in the event log that indicated a failed task. When she researched it further, she discovered it was a piece of software that was meant to be sent to all the computers that were on the network.”

  “I’m guessing it wasn’t a systems update that was written incorrectly.”

  “You would be right.”

  “And everyone thinks the next world war is going to be won by missiles and SEALs.” He shook his shaggy hair and snorted. “It’s going to be a cyber war that decimates governments and infrastructure.”

  “We always say that because of what we do and see. Very few people understand the techno threat is as big as any jihadist movement or man-child in North Korea.”

  “So, you want me to come over and save your bacon?”

  Sliding her gaze from side to side, Lucky bit her lip and nodded. “I’ve spent a week on this, and I can’t find the point of origination. I’ve got projects backed up, and I’m understaffed. I don’t want to disappoint the client, but I’m stuck.”

  “I’ve got time before I need to be in Brussels, so I’ll come over and take a look.”

  “Thank you, Grif. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

  He tilted his head and studied her. “You’re almost as good as me at these sorts of things, so are you giving up because you really can’t figure it out or because it’s cutting into your time investigating the Russian mob?”

  “Are you hungry? Because I sure am, and I think we should celebrate you joining the team by heading to the game room and playing a round of bocce and grabbing some burgers.”

  Groaning, Griffin put his head in his hands. “Your response confirms my worst fears…you’re fixated and not going to let go until you see his pile of ashes.”

  Lucky leaned forward and spoke quietly, “Vazov traffics in humans. Innocent women are kidnapped, fed drugs until they’re hooked, and then forced into prostitution. I can’t let this go.”

  “Any chance you’re going to let all those retired Spec Ops guys you work with handle the takedown or are you seeing yourself as a one-woman vigilante force?”

  “I know you’re asking that rhetorically.”

  “If only I were.”

  “So, food and drink or do you have other plans?”

  “I do have plans this evening, but I’ll take a rain-check. I figure we’re going to be spending a ton of time together once we get into the breach, so we’ll probably be sharing a lot of meals.

  “I’ll have Mama make some of your favorites, so you’ll be well fed.” Lucky laughed as she watched him press his enormous hands to his heart and grin. “I was never sure if you liked me or my mama’s cooking.”

  “It was you, Lucky, and Mama Chiara was just the frosting on an already amazing cake.”

  “I miss you, Grif.”

  “Me too, Luciana.”

  “Okay, enough of this nostalgia. If I wallow in it for too much longer, I’ll forget why we’re a bad idea.”

  “Maybe just one more night spent under the sheets would be a good idea for old times’ sake.”

  Throwing her head back, she laughed. “That won’t help because that’s where we work best.”

  Grif winked and then let out a frustrated sigh. “Damn, Lucky, that is the truth.”

  Clearing her throat, she sat up and squared her shoulders. “No more of that.”

  “You could’ve left me a small morsel of hope.”

  “Why? I’d just end up crushing it later.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “Can you come in tomorrow?”

  “Yes, but first give me the update with the haps at SAI.”

  “Stazi and Hank fell in love and just moved in together. Jason and Maddox are the same. We have a new guy named Brandon who’s the brother of the founder of SAI and a man named Ed just joined. He’s retired Delta and really funny.”

  “Hank Uptight Coleman fell in love with Stazi? Our Stazi?”

  “Yep. And he’s no longer wound tighter than a det cord ready to explode. He’s relaxed and smiles all the time.”

  “And they say modern miracles don’t occur.”

  “I know…right!”

  Griffin’s alarm on his phone buzzed, and he clicked it off. “Got to go.” He lifted his bag off the table and slung it over his head. “See you tomorrow at the office.”

  “Thanks for agreeing to come work with me. Don’t think I could unravel this without you.”

  “Anytime.” He sat up straight and leaned to the left slightly. “Should I kiss you again, just to make sure the fed gets the message?”

  Lucky stood and held out her hands. “Give me a hug, and that will be enough.”

  Griffin stood and opened his big arms, and Lucky stepped into them and rested her head against his chest. Hugging Grif had always been wonderful, and this was no exception. When she felt him kiss her head, she knew it was because he felt genuine affection for her and nothing else. “Thanks, friend.”

  He stepped back and gave her a wink. “Don’t forget to bring the good donuts in the morning.”

  “You got it.” She watched him walk away and caught Sam’s eye and immediately sat down. No need to attract any more of his attention if she wanted to escape without having a conversation. Gathering her things, she was about to leave when her tablet buzzed. She lifted it out of her bag and groaned as she read the incoming information.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sam kept his gaze locked on the back of Lucky’s head and knew the last thing she wanted was a confrontation. Which is exactly what she was going to get the moment his meeting concluded with the director.

  Listening with only one ear to Simon drone on about protocol and rules, he let his mind run over how he was going to kill the son of a bitch who just kissed the hell out of Lucky.

  Was that the man who’d been preventing her from returning his calls? Studying the pair, he saw they were dressed similarly and had a familiarity that made him want to punch something.

  Tuning into his boss’s yammering about his free-wheeling style for a second, he realized he had another five minutes on the speech before it was going to wind down and they could move on to the real problem.

  And what a problem it was.

  Fucking Bratva. They had wiped out Belikov and his group only two months ago, and another one had already popped up. They were like rats, no matter how many you got rid of, there were more climbing out of the sewers. And this time, they brought a deadlier version of heroin to the streets.

  Seeing her long legs made him forget about the Russian mafia momentarily as he let out a silent sigh. Lucky Santorini was the one that got away, and the truth was, he could blame no one but himself for the way things had turned out between them.

  Or more accurately, didn’t turn out.

  He’d screwed the thing up from one end to the other, and he really couldn’t say with any certainty if he had a prayer of a second chance.

  When they’d worked together back in the spring, he’d poked at her as he did with any colleague, and the result was a pissed off woman, not a charmed one, and truthfully, he’d done more than sling the usual good-natured ribbing. He’d tried to one-up her at every turn, and the reason was so mortifying he’d had a hell of a time admitting it to himself.

  Cringing inwardly, he knew in no uncertain terms he was the architect of his unhappiness, and it was a result of
nothing more than insecurity. Something that had never plagued him up until a couple of years ago.

  He abhorred it and did everything in his power to never let it fester too long so it could take root, but with Lucky, he’d completely failed. Not only was she the smartest person he’d ever met, but she was also incredibly beautiful and fearless. Absolutely, balls to the walls, unwaveringly fearless. And it pissed him off because he wasn’t anymore.

  The last op he’d been on with HRT had taken it from him, along with the lower half of his left leg, and he had no idea when the hell he was going to get it back. That was over three years ago, and he knew that if it didn’t happen soon, it probably wouldn’t.

  Not that most people would guess…hell, no, he was still as cocky and confident as any former Tier One guy out there. He just didn’t feel it in his gut like he used to; it was more of an external bravado thing and it made him feel like a fake. And he hated fakes, always had, always would.

  So, when Lucky came along with her beautiful navy-blue eyes and enormous intellect, he panicked because deep in his gut he knew she’d figure him out and see through his façade, and that’s the last thing he wanted to occur.

  Except now that he’d had some time to think about it, he realized it’s exactly what needed to happen if he wanted to move forward with his life and career. Hiding, ignoring, or generally denying his limitations wasn’t the answer, and the sooner he fully accepted that he was never going back to Delta or HRT to kick ass, the better.

  If he could find a way to be okay with it in his gut and not just his mind that his current career was enough, he’d then be truly healed.

  “Are you listening, Barton?”

  “Yes, Simon, absolutely and I agree with everything you’ve just said and will do my best to follow all the rules and regulations.”

  Scraping his hand over his face, Director Harris let out a long breath. “I know you tuned me out after the first three minutes and kept your eyes glued to the hot blonde on the other side of the room. If you’re going to lie to my face, I expect you at least to put some effort into it.”